Feedback as we receive it.
Penny M, Keith, Banffshire, first time user April 2026
That’s us just about finished our first batch of 450 ewes lambed. Nearly 700 lambs clipped. Was a wee bit fiddly for the first few days but soon got the hang of it. Really impressed with the difference in the lambs after clipping. We’ve had a few cases of joint ill, but not any more than usual. Also had one tail that went very nasty looking. I’m blaming operator error for that though as it was some of the first that lambed. One suggestion i have though is that it might be an idea to make a more detailed video about clipping the tails. (I’ve maybe missed it if there is one already). I had to look up Google about the best way to find between the vertebrae. 🙂
I’m not really the photo and video type when trying to explain the way I manage, but I will say that mastering the castration was down to not touching anything before the clip went on. It seemed to be when you were checking that you had both balls before you clipped, was when a ball disappeared. Clip first, then check. 99% of the time it was perfect.
After spending 22 years running a pig farm I could see how far behind the beef and sheep sector is. In terms of genetics, nutrition, record keeping etc, they were about 20-30 years behind. As well as the pig farm, we had 400 ewes at home too and I think it’s the pig side of me that makes me always continue to try and improve things. My work motto was always ” A happy pig, is a fertile pig” and I really do believe that livestock stress has a major impact on productivity, so any way to limit it can only be a good thing.
We made it a 2 man job because we tag, mark, record and clip in 1 fell swoop. In my fitter days I would have held it between my legs (I have balance issues nowadays). East to West seemed to work well with legs bent up. This seemed to be the best position for finding the vertebrae too. By bending and feeling the underside. In the ones I’ve looked at that have lost their tails, there seems to be a lot cleaner and smaller a wound on the ones clipped between the vertebrae.
Always good to ask questions, it’s the best way to learn 🙂
All the above was done within a few days.
May 2026 – I have been heptavacing lambs today and took a notion to turn lambs castrated to compare rings and clips….. no going back to rings for me now!! I’ve never gone back and checked them before like this, but quite a few ringed lambs were like this and all clips were perfect! Hazel L, Strathaven
ring scarLadies and Laddies who use ClipFitter when lambing, and want to tell you about it on camera – UK wide!
“We wanted to say too we are actually amazed at how clean the nuts have come off. 95% of them can’t even really tell !” Michael F, Thurso
Hi Brian hope all going well with you. These Ryelands done at 7wks. The cradle is a game changer and both of us afterwards always say clipfitter is fantastic as lambs get up and walk away, with only minor discomfort when they are put on. Not sure I’d like to leave these hairy Sheep any longer than 7 wks …Next week the main flock of Lleyns to do. Kevin C, Lockerbie
May 2026 Georg F, Banffshire – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 65% – Lambs Clipped 180 – Adverse Reactions 4 – Castration Experience 80% – Tail Docking Experience 40% – Would Use Again (Tails) 40% – Would Use Again (Castration) 100%
The norm for us is now clips for castration and rings for tails. Clips can be difficult to apply where testes are held quite high while avoiding nipples at the same time. We found the nipple guard doesn’t really help in these cases. Our Solution has been to use rubber ring, then apply clip below ring, seemed to generally work ok. Clips are, in our opinion, only suitable for the thinnest of tails, on thicker tails many fall off within a day or two leaving open wounds – although we have only had to treat a couple for infections.
May 2026 Iain MacD, The Black Isle – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 300+ – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 100% – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Over 300 lambs were clipped but as they were older midi clips had to be used. I am finding no issues with them and the lambs are not stressed after using them.
May 2026 Karen E, Devon – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 20 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 100% – Would Use Again (Castration) 100%
Easy to use. Appeared to be no issues for the lambs. Just quite funny I kept finding clips and balls dotted around the field when they fell off!
May 2026 Debbie K, Kent – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 80% – Lambs Clipped 3 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 60% – Would Use Again (Castration) 100%
It is clear the lambs are far less distressed than banding with them hardly seeming to notice other than having something strange between their legs! However it is just very difficult to do with young lambs
May 2026 Ollie H, Kent – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 80% – Lambs Clipped 66 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 60% – Tail Docking experience 100% – Would Use Again (Tails) 100% – Would Use Again (Castration) 60%
I found the fitting of the mini clips for tail docking very straightforward; most of the lambs didn’t even seem to notice, and the tail came off much cleaner and faster than with rings. The use of the clips for castration was a bit fiddly, especially with the smaller lambs, but again, the majority of the lambs appeared to be in less discomfort than with the rings
May 2026 Karen P, Northamptonshire – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 95% – Lambs Clipped 366 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 80% – Tail Docking experience 100% – Would Use Again (Tails) 100% – Would Use Again (Castration) 100%
The only issue we had was with small eg Balwen males where there is not much room for the clip…those we had issues with we did with short scrotum rings.
May 2026 Lara McL, Lanarkshire – Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 73% – Lambs Clipped 14 – Adverse Reactions 5 (2 females became infected, did them at 8 days old and they were in the still in the shed. These 3 males had a wounds, a bit bloody and were blue sprayed only. After these early issues the later lambs were sprayed with NoBacz and the clips also sprayed, All lambs were close to 8 days old, the tails generally came off within 1 to 2 weeks, most did ) – Castration Experience 80% – Tail Docking experience 40% – Would Use Again (Tails) 100% – Would Use Again (Castration) 60%
I used the Cradle, which was excellent, well worth the money, I would not do without it now. Aside from the initial ‘ouch’ when the Clip was closed the lambs with tail only did not seem to feel much pain. I did find some lambs were lying down for a while post castration. I did them all around the 8 days which was better than 25-30 days that I did last year. I would also recommend castration younger in less wide breeds. The Zwartbles for example grow quickly but are quite narrow so its actually the clip (Midi or Maxi) catching their legs that can make them walk like John Wayne !
May 2026 Yvonne J, Fife – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 60% – Lambs Clipped 350 – Adverse Reactions 5 (tails knocked off almost immediately. Bled profusely) – Castration Experience 80% – Tail Docking experience 40% – Would Use Again (Tails) 40% – Would Use Again (Castration) 80%
In brief! Expensive. Castrator and clips heavy and clumsy and slow. Not for outdoor lambing. Clip colour poor in straw. Small lambs balls difficult as clips too large. Tail use is more painful than rings. Tails easily knocked and pulled off leaving wound. HOWEVER, on ‘normal’ size lambs, less castration effect. Shears good for clip removal if necessary. Would use for castrating most lambs. Not keen on tail use, even though I used this for all tails this year.
May 2026 Catherine W, North Yorkshire – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 95% – Lambs Clipped 6 (Only 6 this time as other had already been ringed prior to us knowing about the clip system) – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 80% – Tail Docking experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Slightly tricky with castration of lambs whose testicles are not fully descended – difficulty in not trapping teats. But this could be because we are new at it and not as proficient as we could be. Anecdotally other people who have used the clips for castration have reported that they can rub the inside of the lamb’s legs. We have not experienced this personally, but I wondered if it would be possible to make the ends of the clips more flexible to avoid this? Overall though much more humane and pleasant for all involved – particularly the lambs
May 2026 Kenny H, Shetland – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 70% – Lambs Clipped 350 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 60% – Would Use Again (both) 80%
Used for tail docking last year and had a lot of joint infections so have not used minis for tail docking this year however works very well for castration
May 2026 Emma D, Hampshire – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 70% – Lambs Clipped 20 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 60% – Would Use Again (both) 80%
Castrate my lambs at 24-48 hours old and this was too early for the North Country Cheviot lambs but I will use the Clipfitter again next season on the crossbred lambs as, when I did it successfully, the lambs suffered dramatically less pain than the lambs which had rings put on them
May 2026 Heather K, West Glamorgan – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 10 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
I don’t dock tails – I think if you want short tails then you should breed for short tails 🙂 Clipfitter is brilliant, no more seeing lambs in pain when castrating
May 2026 Judith W, Northumberland – Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 12 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Excellent!
May 2026 Leslie S, North Yorkshire – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 1200 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Castration Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Will be using clips for tail docking and castration in 2027
May 2026 Lorna J, Carlisle – Castration & Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 150 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Castration Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Used this method for both tail docking and castration for the last 2 years. Found it to be so much better than rubber rings with lambs showing very little or no reaction even immediately after applying the clips unlike the rubber rings
May 2026 Duncan Mac, Perthshire – Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 80% – Lambs Clipped 80 – Adverse Reactions 30 – Tail Docking Experience 60% – Would Use Again (Tail) 60%
In spite of taking great care to place clip between joints the tails were off very quickly, the ones needing treatment, were not sealed but raw stumps requiring antibiotics (spray and, for worst, jags. ) Unfortunately 3 got badly infected resulting in one death and two joint ill. This is third season of use and this has not happened before (Have strongly recommended to number of flocks previously.) Lambs clipped from 2 to 14 days .
May 2026 Stella B, Hampshire – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 80% – Lambs Clipped 80 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 80% – Would Use Again (Castration) 100%
Most lambs easily done at 3/4 days old. A few needed to be 5/6 days old to find and clip both testicles. A handful of lambs had the clips not hold on one side when I applied them. I wasn’t sure if it was a fault of the fastener in the clip or if these lambs had a wider skin surface where the clips went and although they were in the weight range for the mini I think maybe a larger clip would have worked? I still clipped these lambs trying again with a different set of clips. Approx two lambs had clips that must have fallen off before the ball sack came off. They have hard crusty testicles now. So the clip worked to stop fertility but didn’t completely remove the sack. I noticed a flinch at application with a quarter of the lambs but no Negative reaction with any of them which was great. No rubbing between the legs either. I will use again and hope the whole system becomes a bit cheaper as o would like to continue using.
May 2026 Tim M, Somerset – Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 16 – Adverse Reactions None – Castration Experience 100% – Would Use Again (Castration) 100%
The plastic gadget for holding nuts in place gave you confidence. Lambs all straight on feet after clip attached. Clip and applicator seemed quite chunky when used with smaller lambs so used it on last legal day (day 7) rather than our usual earlier day (day 2/3). This worked well. A lot less fiddly than using rings. Much easier to remove when not attached correctly – one clip failed to connect properly on one side but easy to break off compared to trying to remove a poorly fitted ring.
May 2026 Ian DM, Perthshire – Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 90% – Lambs Clipped c700 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 80% – Would Use Again (Tail) 100%
Used Midi and Mini clips. The Midi applicators, with natural position being closed, I found awkward to use; the applicator with natural position as open, I prefer. I still find the application mentally challenging as there is a reaction at the moment of application, but little or no reaction thereafter.
May 2026 Charlie R, Perthshire – Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 42 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Would Use Again (Tail) 100%
The lambs didn’t fuss and the tails fell off far quicker than rings
10 May 2026 Chris D, Isle of Wight – Tail Docking – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 2 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Would Use Again (Tail) 100%
Very easy to load applicator and secure to lamb tails. No damage to surface skin/fleece needing medical attention, no obvious signs of discomfort from lambs.
May 2026 Fiona Johnson – Tail Docking & Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 2 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Castration Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Really fab experience – we only have ten sheep so are not big buyers but the vet turned up to help with a struggling delivery and it turns out she’s a friend from tennis so I asked her if she wanted a go.. She did! She thought it was great and she had over 1000 sheep! She said she will def be purchasing them as she was shocked the lack of pain experienced. YAY
May 2026 Daisy W, Essex – Tail Docking & Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 100% – Lambs Clipped 30 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Castration Experience 100% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Fantastic, will never go back to bands. Tails can be fiddly on my own to make sure I’m between vertebrae but not impossible
May 2026 Wendy P, Essex – Tail Docking & Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 75% – Lambs Clipped 6 – Adverse Reactions 1 – Tail Docking Experience 80% – Castration Experience 60% – Would Use Again (both) 80%
3 clips came apart after fitting
May 2026 Heather Mc, Stranraer – Tail Docking & Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 95% – Lambs Clipped 40 – Adverse Reactions None – Tail Docking Experience 100% – Castration Experience 80% – Would Use Again (both) 100%
Welfare much better
May 2026 Janet B, Dunbartonshire – Tail Docking & Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 30% – Lambs Clipped 25 (3-5 weeks old) – Adverse Reactions Most subdued – Tail Docking Experience 40% – Castration Experience 20% – Would Use Again (both) 40%
Very disappointed after all the hype around this method but we have given it a go. Our easiest method is rubber rings at 2-3 days old. Clips are very unsatisfactory and I don’t think more practice would improve the experience. Disappointed and I certainly hope it doesn’t become compulsory. We found it so unsatisfactory, i’m sure it would lead to injury due to poor application when castrating. Positioning clip is very difficult
April 2025 Richard B, Nottinghamshire – Tail Docking & Castration – Overall Satisfaction: 30% – Lambs Clipped 400 – Adverse Reactions 80 – Tail Docking Experience 40% – Castration Experience 40% – Would Use Again (both) 20%
For lambs under 24hrs old the castration is difficult if the balls have not dropped and looks uncomfortable for lambs with the clip between the legs. Had a few lambs with the balls trapped the wrong side. Tail docking if you get it wrong it cuts the skin of the tail. None of the staff that used it wanted to carry on.